Milk and Meat

[charliedale]

Pastor Mike,

I've read something from John Piper that really rings true for me. I found it again at www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/2007/2389_The_Gospel_in_6_Minutes/
He said: "You never, never, never outgrow your need for [the gospel]. Don’t ever think of the gospel as, “That’s the way you get saved, and then you get strong by leaving it and doing something else.” No! We are strengthened by God through the gospel every day, till the day we drop."

That has meant to me that we grow deeper in our faith when we meditate on and appreciate more the gospel of our salvation.

HOWEVER! 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 and especially Hebrews 5:11-6:2 seem to contradict this at least in spirit, calling the gospel basics "milk" and calling for the need to move on to "meat". At the same time 1 Peter 2:2 says, "Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation."

So here's the questions: What is "milk" and what is "meat"? Is Dr. Piper's teaching correct? How should a new Christian regard this stuff? How should a mature Christian regard "milk"?

[Mike Miller]

Let me illustrate it like this. When I was a newborn, all I could consume was milk. As I grew, I went on to soft foods. Now I like steak. However, I still need milk. If I hadn't started eating some soft foods, my mom would have taken me to the doctor, because something would have been wrong with me.

As Christians, growing in the faith means that we can consume solid food. But we never outgrow our need for milk. The problem in 1 Corinthians 3 is that Paul couldn't feed them solid food because they had not matured enough for it. In Hebrews 5, they are chastised because they are living on milk, which means they are "unskilled in the word of righteousness." The problem was not that they still needed milk, but that they hadn't added meat to their diet.

As believers, we still need the Gospel. It is everything to us. Just today, David and I sat in my office marveling at the incredible truth that we have exchanged our sin for Jesus' righteousness. That is the most elemental of all truths, but still the most staggering and satisfying. I frequently meditate on the Gospel and fall to my knees in wonder of the grace of our holy God that could love me enough to satisfy His own righteousness in His own Son. Moreover, the very truth of the Gospel is what drives me and keeps me going every day as I grapple with my sin nature (see Romans 7).

Therefore, the Gospel and other elemental teachings are necessary for all of the Christian life. But if we never move on from there, we are spiritually sick. We need the meat, the milk, the veggies, and the dessert (but not the raisins, for they are surely of the devil .

[Insignificant]

Here is a thought. Salvation is not simply about man being rescued from sin. The salvation of individual men is about the kingdom spreading to the nations. God saves us from sin and saves us to the mission of expressing the gospel to the nations. We MUST continually (and I would say daily) center our lives around the simply truths of the Gospel because with out it there is no mission.

We will not grow to greater Christ-likeness if we abandon the milk of God's Word, the simple truths of the gospel, at any point in the process.

[charliedale]

Thank you, Pastor Mike and Insignificant Guest (your mama choose a strange name. Is it French?)

Insignificant Guest,
I guess your saying that missions and the expansion of the kingdom may be one example of meat but that meat is meaningless without the milk of the gospel.

Thank you, Mike. The analogy does make a lot of sense as we never do get over the need for milk, but we must go on to meat.